Preston Innovations Superium Carp pole review

FOR the most part, finding the right pole is a straightforward process… discover a range that suits you, then choose a model with a price to match your budget.

After all, every pole in a given range is usually built around the same mandrel – the steel tube that the carbon cloth is wound around during manufacture – making all the individual sections interchangeable.

This means that every pole in the range looks the same, takes the same top kits and has a similar feel to its stablemates.

The only thing that varies is the quality of the carbon cloth. The more expensive poles benefit from a higher grade of carbon, making them lighter, stiffer and more responsive.

This rule falls apart, however, when it comes to carp poles. They’re still made on the same mandrel, and take the same top kits, but the mix of carbons and wall thicknesses is slightly different. Whereas most poles are built as all-rounders – suited to everything from manoeuvring light rigs on a canal to hitting fast hemp bites or extracting exuberant net-busters on commercials – carp poles are a tad more one-dimensional. They focus far more on strength.

This leaves the buyer in a bit of a quandary, especially when we’re talking about Preston’s new Superium range, where the X50, Superium Carp and X70 all retail between £1,349.99 and £1,849.99. With all three 16m poles so closely priced, and all fully capable of handling carp, which one should you choose?

To come up with a few answers, I borrowed a Superium Carp for the day and took it to Alvechurch Fisheries near Redditch, a venue where I knew I could wave it around at 16m and catch some hard-fighting fish to prove its mettle.

Last year, after seeing all three poles lined up side by side, I knew that the Carp was slightly heavier and just that little bit less rigid at 16m than the X70, and hardly any better feeling than the cheaper X50.

I’ll admit, though, that they all felt fantastic at 13m – it was just in those final three metres that all the changes were felt. What I really wanted to know was whether that extra clunkiness could be justified for just a bit more strength?

Once out of the bag, I found each section wasn’t as solid-feeling as I’d expected. Unlike a margin pole, which feels unbreakable, I felt that if I did my best Hulk impression I might just about be able to crush a section in my hands – like a standard pole. Once together, though, it felt much tougher, and when I tried slapping with the pole, it felt tougher still!

It might not have the precision feel of an all-round pole, but for some reason its maximum flex seemed a lot less.

Even when whirling the rig around with all my might to achieve the biggest possible ‘splat’ of a pellet on the surface, it was as though the pole was laughing at me and asking if that was all I’d got in the tank!

Other poles would have bent all over the place, but not the Carp. It felt more rigid under sharp movement than it did after a gentle lift, if that makes any sense at all!

Leaning into fish, I got the same impression. There’s nothing worse than a pole that bends right down to its lower sections when you hook into a fish. It doesn’t matter how strong you know a pole is, it just doesn’t inspire confidence.

The Superium Carp, though, presented me with a gentle bend through its top end that blended smoothly into its lower sections, which hardly flexed at all.

Not only did I know it was a strong pole, but it felt like one too, which really gave me the confidence to pull hard when I needed to.

The other thing that I noticed was just how at home the Carp tops felt on it. The more powerful top kits with thicker, heavier elastics felt normal, where I’d expected them to affect the balance and feel of an all-round pole. I put this down to the pole being designed with Carp kits in mind, rather than primarily Match kits.

After my initial run of fish from slapping, I soon had some barbel to go with the carp, plus a few muggers. Whatever I did, the pole handled beautifully.

As I packed away, I was left wondering if I’d only scratched its full potential –certainly, I felt I hadn’t come close to testing it to its limits.

To sum up – if I was looking at a Preston pole to do everything (rivers, canals and commercials) I’d choose the X70. If, however, I fished for carp all year round and rarely, if ever, used a Match kit, then I’d definitely go for the Superium Carp! That’s not to say the X70, or the cheaper X50, can’t handle carp. I just feel that the dedicated Carp pole will do the job just that little bit better.

PRESTON INNOVATIONS SUPERIUM CARP

Sections: 10 plus dolly butt at 16m

Elastic rating: As strong as you want

Weight: Not specified

What you get in the package:

Price: £1,499.99, www.prestoninnovations.com